


Maker No!

by TheBearMuse



Series: Allison Hawke [4]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2018-01-11 11:43:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBearMuse/pseuds/TheBearMuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Allison Hawke, Sebastian Vael, and their companions get caught in a rainstorm on the Wounded Coast.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maker No!

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Allison Hawke saga. Only loosely related to my two word prompt system.

"I've never understood why it's called the Wounded Coast," Merrill chirped thoughtfully. "Isn't it doing the wounding with all its rocks?"

Allison could not help but grin. She had always wondered that herself. "Perhaps someone hurt its feelings," she quipped.

"Wouldn't it be crying then? There are no waterfalls here."

"No, Daisy, but it does look like rain," Varric broke in, narrowing his eyes at the dark clouds above them. "That'll make the coast weep."

"Or you," Allison smirked at the dwarf. "I thought Bianca didn't like getting wet."

"Heh - not unless it's me, Hawke." Varric cut her off with a knowing chuckle. "Bianca is very choosy about who she'll let bleed on her."

Allison pouted at the rebuff and stole a glance at Sebastian out of the corner of her eye. His face was unreadable, but his eyes sparkled with mirth, presumably at the party's banter. Allison could not believe he went along with their silliness sometimes. Not that he lacked a sense of humor - far from it. He just tended to be less...effusive about it. Although she still was not sure that he was kidding about how the Divines get their names....

Sebastian must have sensed her eyes on him, as he turned her way. Allison quickly looked down the coast ahead of them and did her best to appear nonchalant. She frowned and slowed her pace, seeing black figures in the distance. "Those aren't what I think they are, are they?"

"Skeletons and a few other undead, it looks like," Sebastian replied, his breath warm against her ear. Allison bit her lip and suppressed a surprised gasp as she turned to glance at him. Sebastian was a lot closer than he had been a few seconds ago. Their eyes met and Sebastian gave her a bemused smile. Allison felt the heat crawl up her cheeks. _He did that on purpose_ , she realized. The thought nearly made her fall over. Her mind buzzed with questions, none of them coherent. "Shall we?" he asked, breaking into her thoughts.

"Shall we what?" Allison answered without thinking. Her breath left her as several possible responses to that question came to her unbidden. A few of them would have undoubtedly had Sebastian praying for weeks. If it were possible to die from embarrassment, Allison would have done so right there.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her curiously. "Send these creatures back to where they came from." Laughter danced in his eyes. "That's why we're here, isn't it?"

Maker's breath, of course it was. "Oh. Yes, let's go!" Allison pushed past Sebastian, her shoulder brushing his pauldron harder than she expected it to. Biting her lip against the pain of the already-forming bruise, she hurried forward. Her entire head felt like it was on fire. He had never been so bold, not in all the years she had known him. Bold? Allison bit back a laugh. Only she would consider a breath of air bold. But for Sebastian, it was. _What are you doing, Sebastian Vael?_ Allison punctuated the question with a spray of ice at the three skeletons charging toward her, freezing them in place. The rush of cool air soothed her burning cheeks and helped her to focus.

Four more skeletons were closing in behind the first trio. Allison dove back to her left. She regained her footing, staff at the ready. Noodle snarled as he raced past her and clamped his teeth on a skeleton's bony leg. She took advantage of the distraction and cast a blast of spirit energy over the mabari's head. It struck one of the skeletons in the back.

Allison threw a glance back over her shoulder. Good, the others were in range. Her nose twitched as a familiar sensation trickled down her face. _Perfect timing_ , she thought as she caught the drop of blood neatly. Allison drew back her hand and started to channel a spell. She let out a yelp of dismay as she felt the blood splatter all over her hand. The stormy clouds above had decided to rain after all. That was less than helpful. With a frustrated cry, she let her spell fly without the added blood component. The skeletons fell to the ground with a clatter, where Merrill made short work of them in a flash of lightning.

No sooner had they fallen than a second wave of skeletons rose from the earth. One of Sebastian's arrows whizzed past Allison's ear and struck the skeleton nearest her in the eye socket. It was a beautiful shot. She resisted the urge to tell him so. He might get the wrong idea. Wait...that made no sense.

"HAWKE!" Varric. Allison tumbled aside a half second later than she should have. A volley of crossbow bolts flew over her and struck down the wave of skeletons. Allison threw a blast of fire at them. None moved after that. "Watch yourself, Hawke," the dwarf warned her as a third group of skeletons rose from the ground.

Allison nodded as she regained her footing. Noodle yelped at her as one of her boots nearly clipped his paw. "Sorry, boy!" This was bad. Her concentration was broken. She stumbled to the left again, flanking the skeletons. She had to get away from Sebastian. It was hard. Normally she did the opposite. Now her instincts were confused. Allison dodged a skeleton's swing and bashed the back of its skull with her staff as the corpse fell past her.

Suddenly she became aware of the stream of blood tickling her chin. Allison swiped impatiently at it. The flow was thicker than before, but the rain had picked up too, rendering the fresh blood useless for magic. She glanced back along the pathway to get her bearings. Varric had run up the way they came to stun four skeletons for Merrill, who blasted them with a shock of lightning. She too was unable to use her blood for magic in this downpour. Noodle tore the arm off one of the skeletons Sebastian had just taken down with a hail of arrows.

A moan came from behind her. Allison blindly cast a blast of arcane magic, stunning whatever it was. She whirled around in time to see three skeletons clatter to the ground from the followup burst of force magic. The ribcage of the right one exploded into pieces. _Good, got some blood in that cast after all._ Allison fired spirit bolts at the others until they no longer moved.

Noodle let loose a howl that chilled her to the bone. Allison turned back to face the others. An arcane horror towered over them. A wave of magic spread its spidery purple tendrils from the creature's clawed hands, trapping Merrill and Varric at the top of the path. Sebastian was not so lucky. His armor served as no protection against the magical toxins that penetrated his chest. He fell to the ground and did not get up.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. But everything felt so slow and unreal. "SEBASTIAN!" Her voice echoed oddly in her ears. Too late, Merrill's spell encased the horror in earth, trapping it in place. "You're going to regret that!" Time sped up again as suddenly as it had slowed. Allison gathered more blood and propelled it at the undead fiend. It shrieked in pain as the blood pierced its shoulder.

Allison cast spirit bolts at the monstrosity as she ran to Sebastian's side. She could barely hear Varric's crossbow bolts hit the horror over the steady downpour of rain. She knelt by him. Wisps of purple smoke snaked out of his armor. Allison dispelled as much as she could, but Sebastian was going to need real healing. Not here. Anders. This had to end now. Allison threw another force magic spell at the arcane horror. The others must have weakened it while she was tending to Sebastian; the creature fell and did not rise again.

Lightning cracked across the sky overhead. The thunder followed in a heartbeat. Allison brushed her soaked through hair out of her face. The rain was so thick, she could hardly even see the horror's corpse. She called to the others, but even Noodle didn't respond. She cursed under her breath as she slung her staff on her back and dragged Sebastian back up the path.

It was slow going. Allison did not want to accidentally fall off the edge of the cliff. At least the rain was washing away her blood so she didn't have to worry about that for the moment. She kept her eyes peeled through the sheets of water, but there was no sign of her friends. Allison wondered if she had passed them somehow. This was impossible. She had to get Sebastian someplace dry so she could at least attempt to heal him.

Allison was not sure how far they had gone when the ground sloped downward. A shadow appeared ahead of them. She released Sebastian briefly to hold up a fireball. It was a wooden cart. More importantly, it was wedged in front of a cave entrance. _Thank the Maker!_ Allison cast a spell of force magic to push the cart out of the way. "Almost there, Seb," she reassured the still unconscious prince as she pulled him into the cave.

She paused in the cave opening. She braced Sebastian against her leg, taking care not to lean him against her cold chainmail, then lit a fireball so she could see. The cave was small, cold, and dark, but at least it would get them out of the rain. Allison spotted a dried branch on the cave floor and threw the fireball at it. Thankfully, it hit, casting a faint glow around the small cavern. After propping Sebastian against a wall, she quickly gathered up as many branches and pieces of driftwood from around the cave as she could to fuel a fire near Sebastian.

The purple smoke was still seeping out of his armor. There was less of it than before, but it was still a bad sign. Allison wiped more blood from her nose and pressed her hands against Sebastian's chestpiece. Taking a deep breath to calm her rapidly beating heart, Allison closed her eyes and focused on channeling a healing spell. The warmth flowed through her fingertips and heated the metal under her hands, flowing through to Sebastian beneath.

The spell finished. Allison opened her eyes, ready to answer all of Sebastian's questions. But nothing had changed. The purple mist continued to snake its way out of his armor. Allison's heart dropped to her knees. Her worst fears were realized. She was a terrible healer, but she had hoped against hope that she could help Sebastian anyway. She wished Bethany was still alive. Or Father. But she was the Hawke Sebastian was stuck with.

Tears of equal parts frustration and sorrow welled up in her eyes. She had to save him. Desperate, Allison removed Sebastian's chestpiece with fumbling fingers. Her heart pounded in her ears and she forced herself to not think about what she was doing. _Just focus on each buckle and strap._ As the last came apart, Allison set aside Sebastian's blood-smeared breastplate. Despite the urgency of the situation, she hesitated before unbuttoning his coat and pushing his shirt out of the way. Her hands trembled as they rested on Sebastian's bare chest, which was clammy and still seeping purple magic. Allison closed her eyes again and reached even deeper inside herself to channel her healing. Her hands grew hot with the power of the spell, but Allison did not budge. A searing pain spread through her right side where the Arishok had wounded her years ago. She clenched her teeth against the agony, keeping her hands flat against him. It felt like she was being torn apart again, as though the injuries were freshly inflicted. No matter what she did, it grew stronger and stronger until everything faded to white.

****************************************************

Her face was cold. The rest of her was warm, but her face was not. Funny, her room did not usually have a draft. Sandal must have left the door open. Allison tried to pull her blanket more tightly over her so she could roll over, but could not find it. That too was odd. Blearily, she forced her eyes open to look.

She was definitely not in her room. She was in a small, dark cave. A small fire burned to her left. Allison had lit that fire... Then she remembered. Sebastian. She tried to sit upright, but her limbs felt too weak to support her weight. A jolt of pain shot through her side, forcing her back down. Where was Sebastian? She tried to call to him, but all that came out was a faint moan.

"Allison! Thank Andraste you're awake!" A wave of relief flooded through her. He was alive. Her spell had worked. "Don't move," Sebastian added as his face slowly faded into view above her.

"That shouldn't be a problem," she mumbled, every word an effort to form. Bits of fur tickled her cheek and suddenly Allison realized she was wrapped in Sebastian's hooded coat. But his skin had been so chilled before! "Aren't you cold?" was all she could manage to ask.

"I'm all right. You needed it more than I did." She must have looked as confused as she felt, as he explained. "Your scars opened up again."

"But they're three years old!" Allison protested.

Sebastian nodded grimly. "I know. But they did. You had lost a lot of blood by the time I came to. I did what I could to stop it. It took the bandages from three injury kits to stop them from bleeding through." That explained the rest of her mobility problems. But that also meant he had to... Allison could not help but glance at her bloody armor drying by the fire. Sebastian followed her gaze. "I couldn't just let you lie there in your own blood. Don't worry, I didn't look."

Even in her weakened state, Allison did not see how he could have managed it. "That doesn't seem possible, logistically speaking."

A brief battle erupted on Sebastian's face as multiple emotions fought for dominance, so brief that Allison could not identify the players. Frustration appeared to win. "No more than was necessary. You could have died, Allison. Again. Modesty wasn't exactly a high priority."

"It wasn't for me either," she muttered. "You could have died too, you know."

His features softened as he stroked her forehead. "I do know that. And I am grateful. I just don't like that you nearly killed yourself to save me."

Allison did not like the look he was giving her. It reminded her of Father, Mother, and the twins. Fenris and Anders too looked at her that way. She could not stand it if Sebastian started to as well. Or perhaps he always had and she just had not seen - had not wanted to see. She dropped her gaze to her hands, which she tucked inside the sleeves of Sebastian's coat. "Thank you for taking care of me - again."

"Allison." She stopped breathing. _No, please don't do this._ "You need to stop using blood magic."

It was like being stabbed in the gut by the Arishok all over again. She should have seen it coming. Of course Sebastian could never understand; the Chantry's grip on him was too strong. Allison was just another fallen mage for him to save. "It's part of who I am. I'm not going to stop using it just because the Chantry doesn't like it." She glared at him defiantly.

Sebastian frowned back. "This isn't about the Chantry. It's -"

"Of course it is. It always is. They can't leave well enough alone, always having to -"

"IT'S KILLING YOU!" Allison fell silent, stunned. Sebastian had never yelled at her before. His words lingered heavily in the air between them. Sebastian took a ragged breath as he gently but firmly gripped her shoulders. His eyes locked intensely onto hers. "This has nothing to do with the Chantry. I know you don't believe in its teachings. You need to open your eyes and see the truth. It's only gotten worse since the mine."

He was right. She knew it. She'd nearly bled to death when fighting the high dragon; the creature hadn't even touched her. The wounds she'd sustained in the fight with the Arishok now hurt as much as they had when freshly inflicted. Allison could not bear to look at him. "I can't just stop, you know. It's been so long."

"You need to." This was no command. He was pleading. "You have to try, Allison. If not for yourself, then for what might be."

"What do you mean?"

That gave him pause. "I...this is not how I wanted to do this." Sebastian's ears turned a telltale red. "As champion of Kirkwall and a strong leader, you make an excellent candidate for viscountess."

"Me?" Every flaw she had flitted through her mind. "But -"

"Even being an apostate could be overlooked, as you've done so much for Kirkwall," he cut her off smoothly. _He's practiced this conversation before._ "That would set the stage perfectly for an alliance between Kirkwall and Starkhaven."

Allison's brain froze. "Aren't they already linked because of us?"

That was not what she meant to ask. Sebastian's brow creased slightly. "Well yes, of course, but this would be a more...formal...alliance."

Sebastian paused and gazed at her with his piercing blue eyes. He seemed to be waiting for her reaction. Allison's head was swimming. She could hardly dare to think that she understood him correctly. "Sebastian Vael, are you really proposing -"

"See Daisy, I knew we'd find them." Allison's blood ran cold as Varric entered the cavern, Merrill and Noodle close behind him. The dwarf stopped short when he took a closer look at them. "Just not like this."

"Oh! Oh my...we're not interrupting anything, are we?" Merrill asked.

"Maker no!" Sebastian moved into a less intimate position, but stayed by Allison's side. That was good, as the world spun into a whirlwind of color around her. Panicking, she reached out blindly and as Sebastian took her hand, everything came slowly back into focus.

Merrill had noticed their bloody armor and kneeled by Allison's other side with a concerned look. "Hawke, what happened? There's so much blood." _And it's yours._ She did not have to say it; they both knew.

"We're okay," Allison managed. "Just the usual near-death experience. Nothing to worry about."

"Business as usual then?" Varric's tone was light, but his frown indicated that he too was worried.

"Something like that."

The cave started to spin again and Allison found herself leaning against Sebastian for support. Some part of her was vaguely aware that she should enjoy being this close to him, but most of her craved sleep too much for that to matter. She heard his voice reverberate through his skin. His words were muffled through the fog clouding her head. Allison guessed she was still suffering from losing so much blood. A shock of pain shot through her abdomen. Noodle sensed her distress and whimpered in sympathy. At least she hoped that was Noodle and not her own whimpering she was hearing. It was hard to tell.

"All right, Choir Boy. For Hawke." Varric taking orders from Sebastian? She needed to pull herself together. This was definitely not something that happened...ever - and she was missing it!

"I'll be right here, Hawke. Not that I can heal you, of course, but if you need any blood, you're welcome to mine." Allison sensed Merrill moving away. Something was happening and she felt like she should know what, but all speculation was lost in the soupy mess that currently passed for her brain.

"Allison." Sebastian. She murmured an acknowledgement. "We're going to take you to see Anders. Ready to be carried?"

A chill ran through her, followed by another stab of pain in her side as she instantly shot to full alertness. Allison could not take a lecture from him about the evils of blood magic. She shook her head until she could force out the words. "Not Anders."

"Set aside your differences for now. You don't know how deep those cuts go. You need him."

"No! I need you." _Maker's breath!_ "I can't see Anders like this," Allison added quickly, before Sebastian could react. "He'll go on about blood magic and I can't take it. Please, I just need to rest. Then I can try to heal myself." The prince looked horrified. "Not using blood magic! I promise. I've never been able to heal myself that way anyway."

Sebastian slowly nodded consent. "On the condition that you wait until you're truly ready. No cheating!"

"Does that mean you're going to be enforcing that rule personally?"

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Allison thought she caught a sparkle in his eye. "Perhaps. I might even bring injury kits."

"That would ensure no slips on my part then. Just look at this professional bandaging job." She winced as physically indicating her side turned out to be more painful than she expected. "You'll have to explain how you got so good at that later on."

"Indeed I will," Sebastian vowed as he picked her up. "Then perhaps you'll answer my question."

 _He really meant it_ , Allison thought in a daze. "Oh, I will."

"You'll marry me or you'll answer my question?"

"Yes."

Sebastian's laughter was the last thing she heard before she fell asleep.


End file.
